98% fear UK road safety not improving

Research conducted for the latest issue of the Auto Trader Owner’s Guide suggests that a staggering 98% of British motorists fear that the government is failing to improve safety on UK roads. Of the 3,000 drivers surveyed for the quarterly publication, 77% also want theory and practical driving skills to be taught in schools, while 60% are convinced the coming fixed penalty fines for careless driving will do nothing to benefit safety. Find out how much a used car costs on Auto Trader On Bing: see pictures of safe cars Going further, 81% felt the ever increasing rise of in-car gadgetry, including the ability to make hands-free phone calls and check social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, represents a “hazardous distraction” to drivers.

Volvo S60 L plug-in petrol hybrid heading for Beijing Motor Show

The Volvo S60L Plug-in (pictured) heading for Beijing The Volvo V60 Plug-in is already doing good business for Volvo – despite a price tag of £50k – but the V60 plug-in is a diesel hybrid which doesn’t suit all markets. So Volvo are ploughing ahead with a petrol engine based plug-in hybrid with the debut at the Beijing Motor Show next week of the Volvo S60 L Plug-in, a petrol hybrid version of the long wheelbase S60. At first glance the S60 Plug-in looks just like its regular ICE sibling, but under the skin sits a 2.0 litre Drive-E petrol engine with 238bhp and 258lb/ft of torque – which drives the front wheels – and a 68bhp electric motor with 147lb/ft of torque that can drive the rear wheels, which can be recharged in 4.5 hours.

Opel Ampera – Official picture ahead of Geneva

GM really needs the Chevy Volt/Opel Ampera to be well received. The problem is that the technology for the car doesn’t even exist yet, unless of course GM have made huge strides they’re about to reveal when the car gets fully unveiled at Geneva ’09 tomorrow. But it’s not a proper reveal, in the sense that the Ampera will be ready to sell.